Former Lebanese spy chief testifies at Hariri murder trial

BEIRUT – A Lebanese spy chief once jailed in connection to the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is giving testimony to the international tribunal tasked with trying the crime.

Jamil Sayyed, the former director of Lebanon's General Security intelligence agency, was called to the stand Tuesday in the Netherlands as a witness for Hassan Oneissi, one of the four defendants on trial. All four are at large and are being tried in absentia.

Sayyed, who won a seat in Parliament in a May 6 election, is expected to give testimony through Thursday.

He was detained months after the February 14, 2005 killing but released nearly four years later without charges.

The militant group Hezbollah, which is suspected of being behind the killing, has called for the tribunal to be defunded.